OutdatesBy Jennifer Armstrong for HowAboutWe

For most of us, there's no more dysfunctional relationship in our lives than the one we have with self-help books that purport to tell us the secrets to relationships. We know they're silly, full of crap, and oftentimes detrimental (hi, Why Men Love Bitches!), but the human heart is a confusing place. And when we get lost, where do we go? To those blasted books. Maybe they'll be different this time, we rationalize. Maybe the next one will tell me the ultimate secret to love and everlasting happiness.

Well, probably not. But as a longtime lover/hater of such books, I've become a bit of a connoisseur. And I can tell you that if you read one of these five (admittedly not your typical self-help books, but instructional and relationship-oriented nonetheless), you won't hate yourself in the morning. In fact, you'll learn something useful along the way:

Plus: How To Stop Playing The Blame Game When You're Single

Against Love
Yes, it seems weird to

TresSugarSource: 26 Books to Read Before They're Adapted Into 2013 Movies

It seems like more beloved books are being adapted for the big screen every year, and 2013 is no exception. Tons of anticipated films are coming out this year that are based on bestselling novels, including the next installment of the Hunger Games franchise and a new romance from Nicholas Sparks. To get you up to speed, here's a list of all the movies coming out this year that are based on books.

• Parker:
  What it's about: The book series by Donald Westlake revolves around a murderous thief who, despite his line of work, does his best to maintain a moral code.
  Who's starring: Jason Statham will play the title role of Parker, and Jennifer Lopez takes on a new type of role; she plays a frumpy real estate agent.
  Release date: Jan. 25
• 
  
• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion:
  What it's about: A zombie becomes involved with the girlfriend of one is his victims; their relationship might shift the course of events of the

By Kristen Kemp

Bookworms will love the lineup of parenting memoirs and advice that are scheduled for release in 2013. I know I am. Here are the books I can't wait to read in the New Year.

The Heavy: A Mother Daughter Memoir
by Dara-Lynn Weiss
Did you hear about the mom who put her 7-year-old daughter on a strict diet and wrote about it for Vogue? Author Dara Lynn-Weiss caused such a stir that she got a book deal. This memoir tells the story from start to finish-how the doctor labeled her little girl obese, and how this mother decided to take care of it. The book is supposed to be brutally honest, and Lynn-Weiss claims that her insights will help other parents in the same situation. (Jan. 15)

Never Look a Polar Bear in the Eye: A Family Field Trip to the Arctic's Edge in Search of Adventure, Truth, and Mini-Marshmallows
by Zac Unger
In this memoir, one dad takes his family to Antarctica-Churchill, Manitoba to be exact. In the "Polar Bear Capital of

In my opinion, nothing says "holiday season" quite like cozying up with a cup of cocoa and a little holiday read and I could hardly wait to do this with my baby. We have a few holiday books left over from my childhood days, but for the most part they're for bigger kids (i.e. quite wordy with delicate paper pages), so I started looking for board books that would help me introduce the holiday season to my baby in a way that would be fun for her and free me from the worry of her ruining our more fragile holiday books (we can save those for when she's a bit older). I searched high and low and unearthed some pretty adorable Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa board books that would be perfect for little ones who prefer playing with their books to reading them. - By Lauren Hartmann

MORE ON DISNEY BABY

15 children's books every family should own

22 incredible cupcake ideas to get you in the holiday spirit

20 holiday-themed outfits for your baby

Books for Better LivingBy: Jaiya via Books for Better Living

Here's the second installment of our new "Sexy Saturdays" series where we bring you straightforward (but not too serious) talk about sex-how to get creative, make it better, and most of all, enjoy it. Today, Jaiya, a sexologist and author of the upcoming book Blow Each Other Away, offers tips straight from Fifty Shades of Grey. Kids: Feel free to plug your ears and sing, "la, la, la, la!"

If you've been captivated by the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon, then you may have wondered how you can take the "ordinary to the extraordinary" when it comes to your sex life. I know that you all dream of having hot, passionate, intense, orgasmic, mind-blowing sex. You may have even been feeling a little let down by your current sex life. So why not spice things up a bit, because extraordinary Fifty Shades sex is possible. Here's how:
1. Fantastic Foreplay: Christian and Anastasia are in a constant state of turning each other on. They use innuendo in speaking

Rebecca Bengal, Vogue

Some, like Pulphead essayist John Jeremiah Sullivan, opted for the desert-island approach, grabbing the works that would prove as sustaining as water, while others' bookshelves, like the one that belongs to designer Sophie Buhai, serve as inspiration boards-the occult encyclopedia Man, Myth, and Magic, she says, is the source of many of Vena Cava's print motifs. Thurston Moore surrounds himself with the aspirational-the books he hasn't yet read-while Dave Eggers keeps close copies of Lolita and Herzog when he writes.

Most of the shelves included in My Ideal Bookshelf (Little, Brown and Company), however, depict the evolution of an artistic sensibility. Junot Diaz's is an A to Z of his understanding of fiction and of the world; unfolding across Judd Apatow's shelf, from Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes to a biography of Lenny Bruce, is the story of the film director's take on comedy. If you read these books, Apatow promises, you will "reap untold benefits:

'Brain On Fire' In 2009, a rare autoimmune disease grabbed writer Susannah Cahalan and plunged her into a nightmare world of paranoia, psychosis, and ultimately, catatonia. In another era, it’s likely she would have been permanently institutionalized or given a lobotomy; in another culture, she might have been exorcised for demonic possession.

Yahoo Health: Autoimmune Disease

With taut, horror-movie plotting, Cahalan’s new memoir, ‘Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness’ pieces together her utter physical and mental breakdown, her terrifying lost month in the hospital, and the grueling year it took to recover.

Related: Homes Featured in Amityville Horror for Sale

Before she mysteriously contracted the disease, Cahalan was a bright, outgoing, and ambitious 24-year-old reporter for the New York Post. After exhibiting flu-like symptoms that were initially diagnosed as mono, she suddenly began experiencing delusions and behaving erratically. Within a few weeks, she became increasingly abusive, moody, and

Guest Blog by our Partner, Valarie Budayr

for val's blog

From the first moment we decided to explore the world of Willy Wonka and create The Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we knew it would be created as an e-book. Unlike many e-books today which make their first appearance as a print book, The Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was always designed to be an e-book from the moment of its initial conception.

Why an e-book, you ask?

Our first thought in creating The Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was to open the discussion on how we create screen-time balance in our children's lives. I've heard many arguments both pro-screen and anti-screen, but the piece of the conversation that was missing was the one about creating balance.

The reality is that technology is here to stay. Even if we choose to have a home which is screen-free, at some point our children will be introduced to the world of technology through their schools or